DID RAILA ELBOW KALONZO MUSYOKA?

ODM leader Raila Odinga has clarified that he did not snub Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka after a meeting in State House, Mombasa earlier this month.

On August 10, President Uhuru Kenyatta hosted Raila, Kalonzo and the other OKA co-principals Gideon Moi (Kanu), Musalia Mudavadi (ANC), and Moses Wetang’ula (Ford-K) in what State House said was a discussion related to national issues and Covid-19.

“Uhuru held a consultative meeting with a cross-section of political party leaders to discuss several subjects touching on the State of the Kenyan Nation,” State House spokesperson Kanze Dena said in a statement.

But later, when the leaders were parting ways outside State House, a video emerged which showed as if Raila had failed to acknowledge  Kalonzo after elbow bumping other leaders who had attended the meeting. 

Kalonzo appeared to have been ready for the greetings but he was left watching as Raila walked away.

The viral video arose questions from Kenyans as many speculated that the two leaders might have disagreed on a number of issues related to the 2022 succession politics.

On Friday morning, in an interview with Gukena FM and other Kikuyu FM stations, Raila clarified what transpired in Mombasa.

He said that the media interpreted it wrong.

According to Raila, Kalonzo was having a private talk with the president, hence the need to give them space.

Nevertheless, Raila said that he was to travel with Kalonzo to Nairobi later, which is not clear whether it happened or not.

“I elbow-bumped Uhuru, Musalia and Wetangula. Why? Because myself and Kalonzo were returning to Nairobi as Mudavadi and Wetangula were tarrying in Mombasa,” Raila said.

“Kalonzo was talking with Uhuru for a while before joining me at the airport to fly back to Nairobi. That is why I did not say goodbye to him there. And people started saying that I bypassed him because of hatred. We had just finished the meeting, there was no indifference. That is why I am saying that the media got it wrong.”

He also said that the meeting in Mombasa was about the state of the nation and updates about the fight against the virus.

Raila added that the health experts were invited and they briefed them on the pandemic, and later on the President asked them to appeal to the people to help in the fight of the virus.

By The Star Kenya